El tratamiento intenso con calor puede ayudar a aliviar el dolor en el hombro debido a inflamación o a tendinitis del manguito rotador, de acuerdo con un artículo publicado en “The American Journal of Sports Medicine”.
Se trata de un estudio de la Keele University School of Medicine en Store on Trent (Reino Unido) y de la Universidad de Roma “La Sapienza” en el que emplearon hipertermia, un tratamiento con el que la superficie de la piel se mantiene fresca mientras que los tejidos profundos del área afectada son calentados mediante microondas hasta más de 40 grados centígrados.
En este estudio piloto, 37 deportistas que padecían dolor del hombro desde de 3 a 6 meses por un tipo de tendinitis del manguito rotador (tendinopatía supraespinosa) fueron aleatorizados a tres grupos: uno recibió tratamiento hipertérmico tres veces por semana durante 4 semanas, otro recibió ultrasonidos en la misma pauta temporal y un tercero realizó ejercicios dos veces al día durante 4 semanas. Los investigadores observaron que sólo en los pacientes del grupo de hipertermia se produjo una reducción significativa del dolor durante el tratamiento y posteriormente.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2006;34:1247-1253
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